Highlights
- Batman’s potential absence in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League due to being killed off could have had a significant impact on the narrative, but the introduction of Elseworlds and multiversal events means anything is possible.
- The question arises as to what Rocksteady should do with the Riddler in the absence of Batman, as his storyline may not have a conclusion in the game.
- While Riddler’s content in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may be less involved than in the Arkham games, his inclusion is still exciting, and it would be satisfying for players to have a resolution to his storyline, potentially even allowing the members of Task Force X to kill him.
Batman being indisposed and most likely killed during Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League could’ve had a huge narrative weight to it. Unfortunately, the introduction of Elseworlds and multiversal events in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s post-launch content means anything could happen, whether that retcons a previous decision made or not.
Either way, with Batman potentially out of the picture, that begs the question of what Rocksteady should do with one of his oldest nemeses: the Riddler. Now that it’s Task Force X he’s disturbing, no conclusion to Riddler’s story seems off the table.
Rocksteady Never Taking Its Batman Series Back to Arkham Asylum is Its Best and Worst Choice
The Arkham games were quick to move on from the titular insane asylum and that was both an excellent and underwhelming choice on Rocksteady’s part.
Rocksteady Could Let Its Suicide Squad Kill Riddler
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Riddler Content is a Great Hit of Nostalgia
Riddler content such as collectible trophies, puzzle and combat challenges, question marks that needed to be lined up in the environment from a specific vantage and scanned with Detective Mode, and rescuing bomb rioters may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Of course, this content can take quite some time to complete and usually requires players to wait until near the end of the game to access everything available, which is grating when the map’s progression percentage is incomplete in the meantime.
Likewise, all that content needs to be completed if players want to take Riddler down in any of the games—needing all network relays and Enigma datapacks in Arkham Origins can be particularly tedious, for instance, while Arkham Knight withholds much of its Riddler content until certain parts of the story have been finished. Naturally, this means there’s a lot of backtracking players will have to do if they want to take Riddler down.
Thankfully, Arkham City only requires players to collect all the Riddler content on Batman’s end, leaving Catwoman’s pink Riddler trophies optional.
So, the fact that Riddler returns in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is terrific, even if his content seems to be far less involved or engaging than it was in the Arkham games. This makes sense because Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a looter-shooter with fewer actual gameplay mechanics than Batman had, though, and to see Riddler’s inclusion is wonderful if only to continue the green-clad conundrum artist’s legacy of being an irritatingly addicting antagonist.
Killing Riddler in Suicide Squad Might Be the Most Satisfying End to the Antagonist
That said, if Batman does truly meet his end in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Riddler no longer has the Caped Crusader to mock with illuminated question mark devices, perhaps the most fitting and rewarding way for Task Force X to resolve his storyline would be to put him out of his misery in a way Batman never could. Players already technically got to kill Riddler as Joker when Batman’s lungs were being flooded with fear toxin and Joker was taking control of his psyche at the end of Arkham Knight, though this was obviously a hallucinatory sequence.
Riddler content for the sake of Riddler content may not be wholly enjoyable, and the idea of having Riddler around constantly to berate players could be increasingly droll if such activities aren’t at least entertaining. It does seem as if Riddler content is purely based around trophies and solving riddles, which may be perfectly appropriate and give players a reason to explore Metropolis on a more granular level than they might be if they’re sailing through the skyline at all times otherwise.
Plus, with more Riddler content confirmed for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s first post-launch season in March, players will likely be hearing Riddler’s panicked voice and solving his riddles until the game’s active development concludes. That is, unless he’s dealt with in the base game and players solve his remaining riddles thereafter.
It would be absurd not to include some sort of resolution to Riddler’s content, and hopefully Rocksteady implements a final quest where players see him at some point down the line. If Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, or Captain Boomerang are allowed to abruptly and unceremoniously kill Riddler as a way to swiftly express their displeasure of having to collect all of his trophies, that might be the most definitive and hilarious way to cut his legacy short—at least until Rocksteady debuts an Elseworlds Riddler.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
- Released
- February 2, 2024
